Insight

GESIPA® Blind Riveting Group is a leading international company for blind rivet technology that supplies a wide range of high-quality fasteners and innovative setting tools. To ensure that its customers are fully aware of the depth and range of products available, GESIPA has introduced a new demonstration and training centre at its headquarters just outside Frankfurt, Germany.

Opened in Autumn 2014, the demonstration and training centre has attracted a host of visitors – all keen to see first-hand GESIPA’s wide range of capabilities. “As a manufacturer that can supply a vast range of rivets and tooling, we felt it was necessary to create a centre where customers could see all of our products in action,” explains Uwe Herth, head of BU equipment manufacturer. “The new demonstration and training centre is the perfect opportunity to showcase everything we can do.”

Visitors to the centre have included new and existing customers from around the world, including the Netherlands, France, Austria, Switzerland, as well as the USA and China. “We regularly have customers visiting each week, including large automotive OEMs, as well as Tier 1 suppliers,” mentions Uwe. “We also have a lot of smaller companies come to visit us – such as engineering and trade companies.”

The first stop on the demonstration tour is GESIPA’s battery powered hand tools and assortment of air tools – with both ranges proving popular with trade and end user customers. GESIPA says for the last twenty years it has set the standard for battery powered riveting devices through its popular Bird series – PowerBird® and AccuBird®. The newest generation of Bird tools include an innovative BLDC motor, which is a brushless DC motor that instead of brushes – that are susceptible to wear – uses electrical sensors to detect the rotor’s position and commutate the stator coil via circuit breakers. This means that the motor offers high efficiency, long service life, smooth running and a reduction in electrical noise.

As well as battery powered tools, GESIPA supplies a range of modular air tools – including the popular Taurus® series of pneumatic hydraulic blind rivet setting tools. The modular principle of the Taurus series means that for all the tools in the series there is the widest possible parts commonality – meaning a low spare part stock is required and maintenance of the tools is simplified.

The Taurus series is also equipped with a high performance, patented grip mechanism and jaw system. The jaw system includes three jaws that move in separate channels while being under force control. The jaws are pressed onto the mandrel by using compressed air instead of spring force – which results in the force being ten times higher than usual. Due to the high-pressure, the jaws immediately cling to the mandrels upon triggering the riveting process – only the pulling movement starts. This results in lower costs due to longer service life and low requirements regarding maintenance and spare parts needed.

“Both our air tools and hand tools are proving as popular as ever,” says Uwe emphatically. “We are finding that more companies are becoming interested in using our battery powered tools for production lines, as they are easy to use and enable operators to move around without worrying about air hoses scratching the product or getting caught. However, obviously with battery powered tools you have to eventually charge the battery, which is why some customers prefer the consistency that air tools provide.”

In addition to its tooling capabilities, GESIPA offers a range of small process control counter devices. “If the user has a complicated part that demands a number of rivets to be installed, there is a high risk that one of the rivets may be forgotten,” points out Uwe. “Through counter devices you can set a target number and once the designated number is reached the air power cuts out to signify that the user has finished. The operator must then remove the part from the clamp and enter a new part before the air flow will start again.”

GESIPA can also supply full process control systems, which can cover stroke and force measurement – with each machine customised to individual requirements. Full process control systems can monitor worker identification – to ensure the correct employee is operating the tool – and part numbers must be scanned before the installation process can begin. During the process an image of the application is displayed with illustrations and text informing the operator of the next installation step.

The system also monitors the installation process and gives a visual indication if the product has been installed correctly (green) or incorrectly (red). If there has been an incorrect process the operator will need to rescan their identification and a new part number before the machine will start to operate again.

“By using the full process control system customers are able to eliminate the possibility of creating parts with incorrect riveting,” says Uwe. “We have sold this tool for 12 years and it has been very successful.”

Another option for full process control is GESIPA’s assembly cell, which combines everything a user needs into one workbench. The assembly cell can be customised to individual requirements and a workpiece carrier enables the desk to be converted for different products and processing tools in a very fast and simple method. There is even the possibility of existing work tools being integrated into the cell if required.

Other key features of the assembly cell include a counting device that counts the torn off residual rivet mandrels; as well as an operating status display that uses different coloured lights to show the process status.

“You can lose your reputation very quickly if you start to produce incorrect products,” says Uwe. “We have found that more and more customers are interested in controlling and monitoring processes, which is why we have also developed our range in robot riveting applications.”

GESIPA has several robotic riveting systems at its demonstration centre, the first involving the FireRex® tool, which can be integrated into a robot application and is capable of reliably setting bind rivet nuts – as well as hexagon – at any conceivable angle in industrial production processes.

“This is a brand new machine and can be customised to individual needs and its production environment,” points out Uwe. “In cooperation with a robotics company we are able to produce a precise machine that is cost-effective, innovative and fast. The external pressure booster of the FireRex makes it perfect for tight spaces and enables the user to install rivets wherever they need to be placed.”

Other examples of robotic riveting systems involve GESIPA’s GAV range of automatic riveting machines, which are perfect for use in industrial large-scale production. GAV 8000 is a fully automatic blind rivet system that includes setting process monitoring and can set almost any rivet between 2.4mm and 6.4mm, with the longest rivet 32mm and the biggest head 11.4mm. Up to 40 blind rivets can be processed every minute and no trained personnel are required for operation.

“We offer the option of the GAV 8000 with a rotary machine or as a robotic system,” explains Uwe. “With both systems the GAV 8000 enables users to install rivets into applications in a quick and efficient manner, which is vital in busy production lines.”

Another option from the GAV range – and part of the biggest robot riveting system on display at the demonstration centre – is GAV HF, which can be used for high force and setting rivets up to 8mm diameter, 35mm length, and 19mm setting head. By partnering the GAV HF in a robot controlled application there is the possibility to programme various movements and ensure a controlled, fast and secure production process.

“The shear speed of operation and the angles at which the rivets can be installed truly underlines the power and capabilities of GAV HF,” says Uwe. “It is definitely one of our most impressive demonstrations at the centre.”

In addition to showcasing its wide range of leading products, the new centre makes the perfect venue for training seminars. GESIPA regularly invites its customers’ employees, such as maintenance staff or engineers, to come and experience how to use products; understand other possibilities that are available; as well as talk about fastening applications and solutions.

“From hand tools to robot controlled riveting applications, we can offer customers every solution,” proudly states Uwe. “We invite all our customers to our German demonstration centre so that they can find out how GESIPA can help them.”

For those customers who are unable to travel to Germany, GESIPA has demonstration centres in China, USA, Spain, Austria, Czech Republic, and the UK, as well as a demonstration van that travels around France and Belgium. “The other demonstration centres don’t have the amount of robots we have in Germany,” says Uwe. “But they include all the key GESIPA products and can give customers a great insight into our capabilities.”

www.gesipa.com